Daily update- Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Bitter cold remains entrenched over the northern region as another cold surge prepares to move in. Clouds and showers will affect he central region as one storm moves out and another gets ready to slide through and bring a significant cool-down. The south will see more intense heat, with temperatures expected to keep climbing. The tropics remain quiet today, with just a few clouds and showers.

NORTH

Temperatures are increasing slightly across many areas of the north region as cold air remains settled in today, with areas to the far north still locked into the bitter cold, while areas a bit south are cold, but tolerable. A complex storm scenario over Japan will continue to help keep the weather in “wintry mode” across the northern prefectures of the country, especially in western locations along the Sea of Japan, where a sea-effect snow event that has been affecting these areas is starting to wind down a bit. Even though the snow will fall in the western prefectures, as the cold, moist air rides over the Japanese Alps, it dries out considerably, leaving eastern prefectures, including Tokyo, with partly cloudy skies, and out of the snowfall action. This storm will continue to affect the upper two-thirds of the nation through tomorrow as it gathers together and pulls away to the northeast. Elsewhere in the north region, a few clouds are gathering in central China as the winds increase out ahead of a new surge of cold air coming in from the north. This new, fresh, shot of colder air will begin to make its way through Mongolia and northern China by tomorrow and into the rest of the region by the end of the weekend. The farther south you are located, the more impact this new cold surge will have as areas to the north have already been locked into the frigid temperatures for a few days now, but the southern areas have yet to see a real Siberian push so far this season. That will end this weekend. Stay tuned.

City

High Temp C (F)

Low Temp C (F)

Conditions

Ulaanbaatar

-19 (-2)

-36 (-33)

Partly Cloudy

Vladivostok

-9 (16)

-20 (-4)

Ptly Cloudy & Windy

Beijing

-1 (30)

-9 (16)

Partly Cloudy

Seoul

-3 (27)

-11 (12)

Fair

Tokyo

11 (52)

1 (34)

Partly Cloudy

Xi’an

3 (37)

-4 (25)

Cloudy

Shanghai

6 (43)

2 (36)

Fair

CENTRAL

Clouds and showers continue to dampen the day in the coastal and maritime locations of the central region today, as a complex storm system to the northeast continues to pull away. To the south and west, clouds and wind are starting to increase as a new storm system gathers together, poised to move through the region through the end of the week and pull down some very cold air from the north. This new cold surge will bring a significant temperature change to the entire region by the end of the coming weekend, with some locations in northern Vietnam seeing temperatures drop as much as 15C (25F) between Friday and Sunday.

City

High Temp C (F)

Low Temp C (F)

Conditions

Kunming

18 (64)

5 (41)

Fair & Windy

Hong Kong

17 (63)

16 (61)

Scattered Showers

Taipei

16 (61)

15 (59)

Scattered Showers

Iwo To

7 (45)

0 (32)

Scattered Showers

Hanoi

22 (72)

18 (64)

Cloudy

SOUTH

Nature always finds a balance, and it is being found over the south region as the heat intensifies ahead of the cool air surge to the north. Unfortunately, only the most northerly locations of the south region will see any cooling effects from the new cold surge that will make its way through eastern Asia this weekend, while everyone else to the south of the cold air boundary will see temperatures spike as warm air from the south gets pulled up ahead of the new surge. It will be another torrid day across portions of southern Indochina today, with the temperatures expected to go up even more between now and the weekend. Weather will be mostly fair across the majority off the region today, with Cambodia and central Vietnam seeing a few scattered thunderstorms today as residual moisture heats up in the afternoon sunshine. Singapore could also see a few thunderstorms this afternoon at the peak of heating.

City

High Temp C (F)

Low Temp C (F)

Conditions

Siem Reap

32 (90)

23 (73)

Sctd. T-storms

Ho Chi Minh

36 (97)

24 (75)

Fair

Manila

31 (88)

23 (73)

Partly Cloudy

Davao City

34 (93)

23 (73)

Fair

Brunei

32 (90)

25 (77)

Fair

Singapore

32 (90)

26 (79)

Thunderstorms

TROPICS

The tropics remain mostly quiet today, as has been the case for the past couple of weeks. It is pretty normal for the WPAC tropics to be quiet in January during an El Nino year, and this is certainly the case so far this month. The Marianas could see a few scattered showers as a result of a continental weather system impacting the island chain. Another weak gathering of clouds and showers is drifting to the west through western Micronesia. Remnants of the old, defunct central Pacific system 01C PALI are still affecting the eastern Marshall Islands with a few clouds and some gusty winds. The remainder of the tropics will see a nice day today, with just a few scattered clouds and lots of sunshine.

City

High Temp C (F)

Low Temp C (F)

Conditions

Guam

27 (81)

23 (73)

Scattered Showers

Yap

30 (86)

25 (77)

Sctd. T-storms

Palau

31 (88)

25 (77)

Increasing Clouds

Chuuk

30 (86)

26 (79)

Partly Cloudy

Pohnpei

31 (88)

26 (79)

Partly Cloudy

Majuro

29 (84)

26 (79)

Increasing Clouds

Wake

28 (82)

24 (75)

Partly Cloudy

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Take a look ahead in to the weekend, a big cold surge is underway and it will be some of the coldest air of the season.